Best Friends to Boyfriends
by a-little-glimmer
Summary: Dan and Phil have finally started dating and are blissfuly happy. But what will happen next?
1. Chapter 1

"Dan?" Phil comes into the kitchen where Dan is scrolling through tumblr on his laptop. "Yeah?" He replies, not taking his eyes off the computer. "Can.. can I talk to you for a sec?" Phil asks hesitantly. "Yeah, sure, go ahead." "Dan?" "What." "Um, Dan?" Dan finally looks up from the computer. "What?!" He says, exasperated. He sees the look on Phil's face and knows something is up. "Oh, er.." Dan presses a few buttons on his laptop and closes it, then stands to face Phil. Phil rubs the back of his neck and awkwardly stands there for a couple seconds. "Let's go sit down in the living room," he suggest. So Dan follows him into the lounge, and Phil sits on the couch, gesturing for Dan to do so also. He sits next to Phil, about a foot away so they have room, and turns to face Phil. "What's up?"

"Right, ok." Phil starts. He hesitates for a second and looks down at the floor. "I-I like you." "...okay?" Dan asks, confused. "I like you." He says again. "Yes, I believe we've established that." Dan rolls his eyes and glances at Phil. He finally notices Phil's expression and gets it.

"OH." Dan's eyes widen as he realizes what Phil means. Phil sees his shocked expression and hastily continues: "I mean, you don't have to say anything, it's just, I've realized this a couple weeks ago and I thought it might go away, but no, I still feel like this and just thought you should know but I-" "Phil." Dan interrupts. "-because a lot of people ship us and I worried how you would react-" "Phil!" Dan tries again. Phil glances up from the floor and asks him anxiously, "Yeah?" "I like you too."

Phil smiles slightly. "R-really?" He stutters. "Yeah. I didn't want to tell you because I thought you didn't feel the same way." Dan says, and he smiles sheepishly. Phil exhales a breath he didn't know he'd been holding, then leans over and hugs Dan. It takes Dan a second to get over his initial surprise, but then he scoots closer to Phil and hugs him back. He rests his chin on Phil's shoulder, as Phil does the same to Dan. They stay there for a while, then Phil pulls back and smiles again. He gazes at Dan, thinking about all the amazing times they have had together - meeting him, making videos with him, moving in with him, making a book and going on tour with him. Phil continues to stare at Dan, looking at his beautiful, soft brown eyes and hair. Dan stares back, gazing into his brilliant blue eyes.

Phil finally breaks away from their staring and stands up. "Um, do you want to go to dinner?" He says. They had had nothing planned for tonight, well, except for Phil confessing to Dan. "Sure," Dan says, smiling. Phil holds out his hand to help Dan off the couch. They grab their coats, as it was a bit chilly for September, and Phil grabs his key on the kitchen counter. They walk out the door and into town together, blissfully heading off to their favorite restaurant with their new boyfriend.

A/N: This is my first fanfiction ever! Please tell me what you thought and give me suggestions for anything (grammar, plot, etc.) This chapter was kinda short just cause I liked the length of it. I have written a couple more chapters, but I want to wait before posting them (editing and stuff). Tell me if I should make the chapters longer and if you liked it! Also I will try to update every week or so but I do have school (finals and stuff). But, as school is almost over, I will have more time to write during the summer! Thank for reading this.. bye! -L


	2. Chapter 2

When they walk into the restaurant, they wait for the people ahead of them to be served and step up to the counter. "Oh my god, Dan and Phil?!" The host behind the counter exclaims. The two look at each other, grinning. "Um, yeah. Hello!" Phil says politely. "I am such a fan!" The host says. "Oh, sorry. You're here for dinner, right." He smacks himself on the forehead. "How can I help you?" "Um, table for two?" Dan says, glancing awkwardly at Phil. The host notices their demeanor. "Wait. Are you two on a date?!" He says. Phil and Dan begin blushing furiously. The host grins and decides not to embarrass them by pressing it any further. "Follow me." He leads them to a table in the back corner of the main dining room, quiet and somewhat far away from any other tables. "Here you are. A server will be right with you." The host hands them menus and leaves. For a couple seconds Dan and Phil just stare across the table at each other. Suddenly a perky waitress appears, almost out of nowhere. "Hello! I'm Lindsay, your waitress for this evening. Would you like something to drink?" She exclaims quickly. Startled, Phil shakes his head a bit to clear it. "Um, I'll have a Coke." "Same here." Dan and Phil tell the waitress. "Okay, I'll be right back with your orders!" Lindsay walks away.

"So... how was your day?" Dan awkwardly tries to start the conversation. "Really, Dan? 'How was your day?' Nice opening." Phil smirks and sticks his tongue out slightly without knowing it, so Dan knows he's joking. "Oh, shut up!" Dan laughs along with Phil. He swats Phil's arm playfully and accidentally brushes Phil's hand when he pulls back his arm. Dan catches his breath and stops. Sure, they had touched and hugged each other before. Even not 10 minutes ago in the apartment, after they had said they liked each other, they hugged. But that was more like a friendly, almost celebratory gesture that just felt natural. This was different. All these thoughts and more passed through Dan's mind in a millisecond and he finally closed his own hand around Phil's. Phil glanced at their hands, startled by the sudden contact. He looks up and meets Dan's eyes. Time seemed to stand still. Phil glances back down at their hands. Slowly, he flips his hand upwards from beneath Dan's and interlaces their fingers together. 'We're holding hands,' Phil thought. ' _We're holding hands_!' Phil had dreamed about this for weeks. Literally.

It all started when Phil and Dan had gone to a party. Both of them had gotten a bit drunk. A bunch of people at the party decided to play Truth or Dare. Dan had gotten dared to kiss one of the girls at the party who had told her friend, Lily (the one throwing the party), that she had a crush on Dan. Lily had been the one to dare Dan. Later that night, Phil had dreamed about what it would be like to have been the girl in that scenario, kissing Dan. Once Phil woke up, and realized what he had dreamt about, he was extremely embarrassed and stayed in his room for hours to avoid Dan (luckily it was still fairly early in the morning so Dan didn't suspect anything). All that time alone gave Phil a lot of time to really think. Eventually he realized he liked, maybe even loved, Dan. The feelings were always there (Phil remembered the small crush he had on Dan when they first met), but they had grown ever so slowly, so Phil didn't even realize he had fallen for Dan until then.

Afterwards it was awkward for Phil to be near Dan, knowing what he knew about his feelings toward Dan. Dan didn't notice anything particularly odd about Phil during this time, so that's why he was surprised when Phil had told Dan he liked him. But every night after the party, Phil dreamed about Dan. They weren't doing anything interesting in the dreams, normally Dream Phil and Dream Dan were just going about their normal day, eating breakfast or watching an anime, but they were holding hands almost always and kissing every so often. Thinking about the dreams, ironically, snapped Phil back to reality. It had still been only a couple seconds since Dan had first touched Phil's hand. Phil's heart skipped a beat as he continued to gaze at his and Dan's hands. ' _We're holding hands!_ ' Phil thought again gleefully.

Dan was watching Phil, who seemed to be just barely composing himself as he took in the sight of their hands and appeared deep in thought. Dan smiles in spite of himself and admires Phil. After a couple seconds Phil glances up again and holds Dan's gaze. Of course, right at that moment Lindsay appeared. As they were so engrossed in their staring, neither noticed when Lindsay walked up to their table. "Um, here are your drinks." She felt very rude and out of place for interrupting what seemed like an intense moment for the two men sitting at the table. Both men, shocked by her appearance, jump apart, as they had unknowingly leaned closer towards each other, and pulled their hands away. "Oh, thank you." Dan says and receives his drink as Lindsay hands it to him, then she sets the other drink in front of Phil. Clearly the two were not ready to order, as the menus lay untouched in front of them, and they had been preoccupied with the hand holding moment. "I'll come back in a couple minutes to take your order," Lindsay says, and she walks away.

Dan and Phil look at each other, smile, and open their menus. They settle into an easy conversation concerning what they were going to order, the radio show, and remembering fun times they had on tour. After about an hour and a half, dinner was over and the check had arrived to their table. Phil reaches for the check. "I'll take that," he tells Dan. "No, come on. I can pay for it," Dan replies, not wanting Phil to pay for his meal. "Dan, it's all right," Phil reassured him. Dan pouts and crosses his arms, but couldn't stay in such an un-Dan-like pose and burst out laughing. Phil grins at him and pulls out his wallet from his coat pocket. Lindsay comes by soon after to pick up the check and later returns with his change. "Thank you!" She says to them. "Have a great night!" Dan thanks her and bids her a nice evening as well. Soon after she leaves, Phil and Dan stand to go.

They begin to walk out of the restaurant. The host, Jack (they read from his name tag), says goodbye as Dan and Phil walk out, and they return the farewell. "Thank you for dinner," Dan says to Phil, looking sideways at him through his fringe. "Of course! Besides, you're getting the next one, right?" Phil jokes. Dan laughs and they continue walking and lapse into a peaceful silence. As they walk, they seem to be getting closer to each other. Wether this was on purpose or not, one can't tell, but eventually they drift quite close together. Dan, feeling bold this evening, lightly touches Phil's hand as they walk. Phil responds by moving his hand behind Dan's wrist and pressing their palms together. Dan knew Phil was waiting for him to confirm that this was what he wanted, and so he gently laces their fingers together and clasps his hand as they walk. Eventually they reach the apartment. "Well, this is my place." Dan says. "Thanks for walking me home!" Dan smiles, then turns, unlocks the door and waves goodbye to Phil. Phil laughs, shakes his head, and follows Dan inside. It is about 10pm now and they stop in the front hall. "You know, I'm actually pretty tired. I think I'm going to go to bed. Thanks for a great date!" Dan says. He smiles at Phil and turns to walk down the hallway leading to his bedroom. "Wait, Dan?" Phil calls. He turns back around with a questioning gaze. "Yeah?" "Goodnight." And Phil leans in and softly presses his lips to Dan's. Dan smiles and begins to kiss back. After a couple seconds, Phil pulls away. "Goodnight!" Phil says, smirking, then walks to his bedroom, steals one last look at Dan, still standing there, dazed and pleasantly surprised, and closes the door.

A/N: Hey guys! I hope you liked this chapter. It was a lot longer than the first chapter, but I thought the plot in this one tied together nicely so I left it all in. please review and comment what you think! -L


	3. Chapter 3

After their first kiss, Phil bids Dan goodnight and walks into his bedroom. Dan, pleasantly surprised by Phil's bold move, just stands there, disoriented. After a couple seconds, Dan reaches up and touches his lips, remembering the feel of Phil's smooth lips on his (after all, Phil does moisturize). Dan smiles, turns, and walks into his room. Still in a trance, he slowly undresses and puts on his pajamas, climbs into bed, and drifts into a peaceful, dreamless sleep.

* * *

The next morning, Phil is the first to awaken. He decides to make himself and Dan breakfast. So, Phil walks into the kitchen and gets all the ingredients together to make pancakes. Soon after, the pancakes are all done, and Phil arranges them on a plate and sets the table. Not anything too fancy, just basic silverware and the plate of pancakes in the middle.

Phil walks over to Dan's room. "Dan?" He calls softly, knocking on the door. No response. "Dan?" Phil knocks and tries again. No response. Quietly, Phil opens the door and steps inside. Dan is still sleeping, snoring softly and laying on his side. Phil decides not to wake him, steps out of the room soundlessly and closes the door.

Phil returns to the kitchen and eats his pancake in peace, looking through twitter and seeing what everyone has been up to. About 10 minutes later, Phil is quite bored. It is only about 7 in the morning (Phil had gone to bed earlier than normal the previous night), so he decides to go for a walk. He walks into his bedroom and changes to suitable clothes for outside. Phil grabs a light jacket, his phone, and his key. But before he leaves, he grabs a pen and post-it note and writes a note for Dan:

Dan-  
I've gone out for a walk. I made pancakes for you which are on the table. Be back shortly.  
-Phil

He leaves the note on the counter where Dan is sure to see it as the first thing when he walks in. Phil slips out the door and takes a nice stroll to the park, where he sits on a bench, relaxes, and watches the beautiful sunrise.

* * *

Meanwhile, Dan is just beginning to wake up in the apartment. He stretches casually and climbs out of bed. The apartment is oddly silent, Dan notices, and he walks out into the kitchen. There he sees the note. He reads it, and turns to see the pancakes waiting for him. Dan smiles, touched that Phil made breakfast for him, but feels a bit guilty: Phil had clearly wanted to eat breakfast together, but had been sweet enough to let Dan sleep.

Dan sits down and takes two pancakes from the plate and begins to eat. He takes out his phone and texts Phil:

 _Hey Phil - I'm awake. Thanks for the_ [pancake emoji] _! Come home soon 3_  
 _-D_

A minute later:  
 _Ok, I'm on my way home now._  
 _3 Phil_

Dan smiles and finishes eating. Just as he's washing the dishes, he hears someone walk through the front door. "Phil?" He calls. "Yeah, it's me," Phil replies. Dan quickly finishes drying his plate and walks out to greet Phil, however, Phil walked into the kitchen at that exact moment. "Ah!" Phil gives a small yelp as he runs into Dan. They both fall to the floor. When they realize what happened, Dan and Phil start laughing. Dan stands and helps Phil up. "Hey," Dan says. "Hi," Phil replies, grinning. They both retreat into the living room and plop down on the couch. "How was your walk?" Dan asks Phil. "It was nice! Really calm and quiet," Phil remarks. "Cool. Maybe I'll join you next time." Dan suggests. "Okay. How were the pancakes?" "Really good, thank you!" "Sure. So, what do want to do today?" Phil asks. "Well, actually, I thought we should make a video, you know, explaining everything." Dan says. "Oh. Um, yeah, no, you're right, we should." Phil responds.

They go into Phil's room and begin to set up after discussing it a bit more (what they will say, who's channel to upload it on, etc). Then Phil starts recording.

A/N: Hey guys! This is just a short little update to keep the plot going. Btw, the '3's' in their text messages are supposed to be text hearts, I can't do the 'less than' sign on this site (also called an angle bracket). Please follow/favorite if you liked it, and review what you think! ~L


	4. Chapter 4

"Hey guys!" "Hello Internet!" Phil and Dan say. "So in case you haven't noticed from the title, we have a **Big Announcement** ," Phil says in a dramatic voice. "Yes, alright," Dan says, chuckling. "So, should we just say it?" Phil asks Dan. "I guess so. Erm, Phil and I are dating." "Yep." Phil nods. "Now, some of you may be shocked, others are like 'yeah, ok' and still others of you are freaking out jumping up and down your bedroom screaming 'I FUCKING KNEW IT!'" Dan says. Phil laughs. "Yeah, that seems about right." "So, we just wanted to make this video cause you guys have always been part of our lives and we felt you deserved to know." Dan adds. "And please don't judge us or anything, we are still the same people and nothing will change," Phil says.

"So, now what?" He looks at Dan. "What do you mean?" Dan asks. "Well, that's not the whole video, right?" "Oh. Okay. Let's go on twitter and talk to some of you guys, then!" "Yeah!"

Phil sends out a tweet saying: 'Quick! Ask me a question!' Dan and Phil finish the video by answering many questions from their followers (like a Phil Is Not On Fire). After reading a particularly odd one, Phil says: "Ok, I think it's time to stop now." "Um, yeah," Dan agrees. They finish the video with their classic sign out saying to subscribe, like, comment, the usual. "I think that went well," Dan says to Phil after they finish recording. "Yeah, well, we'll see," Phil replies.

They upload the footage to Phil's computer and begin to edit it. Later, Dan's stomach growls loudly. "I guess I'm hungry," Dan laughs and says to Phil. He checks the time on his phone. "Oh! Phil, it's already noon! Should we get some lunch?" After breakfast, they had watched an anime, then filmed and edited for almost 3 hours! "Yeah, sure. Now that I think about it, I'm pretty hungry too," Phil says to Dan. He suggests they go out to eat, and Dan agrees. They both retreat into their bedrooms to change for lunch. Later, they meet in the front hall to grab their coats and walk outside.

"So where do you want to go? I found this pizza place on maps," Dan says to Phil. "Ok, let's try it." They head down the stairs and walk outside after plugging the address into google maps. The second Phil opens the door, they're hit with a chilly breeze that causes both of them to shiver and shove their hands in their coat pockets. Hurriedly they walk a couple blocks to the pizza place and go through the door.

Dan and Phil walk up to the counter. "Hello!" The hostess greets them. "Um, hi." Dan says. "How many people are in your party?" She asks. "Uh, two, thanks," Phil responds. "Ok, great, follow me!" She leads Dan and Phil into a room filled with people eating. "Here's your table. A server will be with you shortly," The hostess gestures to a small booth on the wall and sets two menus on the table. Phil and Dan scoot into the booth awkwardly and open the menus. "So, what should we get?" Dan asks Phil. "I don't know, do you want to share a small pizza or something?" Phil says. Dan nods and says, "Yeah, okay." A waitress comes around and gets their order (Phil orders a lemonade, Dan a coffee, and a small pizza, which would be out quickly).

"So when we get home, I'm thinking we should finish editing the video and just post it," Dan says. "Really? I'm kinda nervous about it." Phil bites his lip worriedly and looks down at the table. "Why?" Dan asks, concerned. "Do you think we need to reshoot it?" "No, it's just.. what if we lose our fans?" Phil says. Dan falls silent as the waitress comes back with their drinks and puts down the plates, barely fitting on the small table. After she leaves, Dan says: "Why would we lose our fans? Most of them have been wanting us to get together since the beginning." "Yeah, but I don't think they realize how different it would be," Phil says. "How would it be different?" "I don't know, just like, the overall mood of our videos. People will be focused on what is going on with us and not the actual video." "Why are you so nervous about telling people about us?" Dan says, louder than he should. "I just don't think it's a good idea!" Phil yells back.

They realize the room has gone almost completely silent. Phil looks down, embarrassed, as Dan stares at everyone in the room, daring them to keep looking. Dan turns back and glares at Phil. "I'm sorry," Phil says, still staring at the table. Dan softens. "No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't force you to do something you're not comfortable with." Dan replies. Phil looks up, surprised at Dan's change of heart. "No, we should post the video. It doesn't matter what people think." Phil and Dan smile at each other, and Dan reaches across the table to squeeze Phil's hand. Slowly, Dan leans over the table, and Phil leans in to meet him. Tenderly, they seal their lips in a soft kiss that makes it seem like they are the only people in the world. Everything else is forgotten, and the only thing that matters is Dan, Phil, and the sweet kiss joining them together. After a couple seconds they pull away and smile into each other's eyes. Then they remember where they are and glance out to see almost the entire room staring at them again. Dan and Phil blush deeply and turn back to their table. A minute later, their waitress comes back with their pizza and they finish lunch.

When the waitress comes back with the check, Phil pulls out his wallet to pay again. "Phil, no. You paid last night. I got this," Dan says, and he reaches into his own pocket for his wallet. Phil, seeing Dan won't change his mind, agrees. After the lunch is paid for, Phil and Dan walk out into the cool air and wander back home.

A/N: Hey guys! I hope you liked this chapter :/ Please review what you think! ~L


	5. Chapter 5

Dan and Phil reach their apartment and walk inside. They take off their coats, hang them up, and walk into the kitchen. Dan leans on the back of a chair, facing Phil. "So, are you sure you want to post the video? I need you to be sure," he says. "Yeah, I'm positive now. I want to do this," Phil replies, leaning on the doorframe. "Actually, I was thinking on the walk home: Don't we need to tell our friends and family?" Dan asks. "Oh, yeah, you're right. We should probably do it before we post the video, too," Phil adds. "Yeah, better they not find out that way. Well, we should tell our friends. And in person," Dan says. "Well, maybe we could throw a party!" "Ugh, Phil, do you know how much work that's gonna be?" Dan complains. Phil just gives Dan a look. "Fine," Dan gives in. "Yeah!"

They head into the living room and begin planning the party. Dan makes a list of their closest friends who they will invite - most from YouTube, others from work or old friends they have kept in touch with. Phil makes a list of supplies they will need for the party, like food and decorations. Finally all the preparations are done and Phil creates a rough draft for the invitations on his computer:

You're invited to a party at Dan and Phil's flat! It is in one week, Friday, September 16, and starts around 7pm. Please RSVP as soon as you can. And, there is a reason for this party, we have a special announcement to make. Hope to see you there!  
-Dan and Phil

"I think that's good," Phil says. "Right?" "Yeah. Go ahead and send them out," Dan says, looking over Phil's shoulder, who was sitting at a table. Phil fills in the blank with the name of the first person they're inviting (Louise) and sends that to her. Then he moves on to the next. "Alright, you can work on that, and I'll work on scrolling through tumblr!" Dan says, straightening up. "Dan," Phil says, smirking, turning and giving him another look. Dan grins, then grabs his computer and flops on the couch. "Wait, actually, we should tell our family, too. Should we go out to dinner or something?" Dan asks. "I don't know. I don't really want to tell my mum we're dating, like, face to face. It would just be awkward," Phil says. "Yeah, you're probably right. I'll call my mum later," Dan agrees. Phil nods and turns back to sending out the invitations.

Almost a week has passed, pretty uneventfully. Dan and Phil had stayed mostly inside the house, but they went out for meals a couple times and went for walks nearly every morning. The party was going to be tomorrow night. Dan and Phil were playing Mario Kart on the Wii. "Yes!" Dan yells triumphantly. "Ugh, no fair. You cheated," Phil accuses Dan playfully. "I did not!" Dan exclaims, pretending to be offended. "Did too," Phil says, smiling. "Did not." "Did too." "Did-" Phil cuts Dan off with a soft kiss. Dan smiles and kisses him back. Phil pulls away. "C'mon, we should stop playing. Remember we have the party tomorrow?" He says. "How could I forget?" Dan replies. Phil stands up and helps Dan get off the couch, too. "Speaking of which, we haven't told our parents we're dating yet," Phil reminds Dan. "Ugh, do we have to?" Dan groans. "Yes," Phil rolls his eyes and gazes lovingly at Dan. He brushes a strand of hair out of Dan's face and adjusts it back into his fringe. "Why don't we do it right now?" Phil asks. "Ok!" Dan gets a mischievous glint in his eye. "Dan?" Phil asks warily. Dan smirks, grabs Phil's phone off the table, and runs into the kitchen. "Dan!" Phil quickly rushes after Dan. "Hello Mrs. Lester," Dan was saying. "Nonononono," Phil says, horrified. "Dan? Is that you?" Phil hears his mum say on the other line. "Yes. I just wanted to say I'm dating your son. Bye!" Dan says, and tosses the phone to Phil. "I hate you," Phil says jokingly, mock glaring at Dan, before lifting the phone to his ear. Dan just smirks smugly. "Er-hi mum," Phil says awkwardly. "Phil? Is that true?" She asks. "Erm.. yeah." "Ok. Well, I think you make a cute couple," Phil's mum says. "Mum!" Phil exclaims, embarrassed. "What?! You do." "Uh, okay then. Bye mum!" "Bye sweetie!" Phil sighs, hangs up and glares at Dan. "You are evil," he laughs. Dan just smirks again. "Well, your turn!" Phil runs back into the living room where Dan had left his phone, picks it up, and dials Dan's mum. "Wha-hey!" Dan yelped, and chased after Phil. "Hello Mrs. Howell!" Phil was saying...

After Dan had finished talking to his mum (she had wanted to catch up with him), Phil and Dan headed into the kitchen for a quick snack. "Well, glad that's over with," Dan says. "Me, too," Phil agrees. "So, do we have everything for the party?" Dan asks. Phil gestures to the piles of shopping bags in the front hall. "What do you think?" Phil laughs. Dan grins. "Okay, cool." "Well, it's getting late. We should go to bed," Phil says. "Yeah," Dan agrees. They finish up their snacks, wash the dishes, and head upstairs to their bedrooms. "Goodnight, Dan!" Phil says. "Night, Phil." Dan steps toward Phil, and he meets Dan, giving him a quick kiss. Each turns into their bedroom, gets ready for bed, and falls fast asleep.

The next morning, Dan woke up around 7:30. He walks out of his bedroom and into the kitchen, then realizes Phil isn't there. Phil almost always woke up before him. He quietly goes to Phil's bedroom and knocks. "Phil?" Dan asks through the door. No response. Dan carefully opens the door and sees Phil, still sleeping, laying on his stomach with his cheek pressed against the pillow. His face is mushed up slightly by the pillow and his hair is messed up with an adorable case of bed-head. Dan smiles, looks at Phil a little while longer, then closes the door and walks back to the kitchen. He realizes he never repaid Phil for making him pancakes last week, so Dan starts to make Phil breakfast. He decides to make waffles, so he makes some waffle batter, making a huge mess while doing so. Dan goes to get the waffle maker, but as he's taking it out of the cabinet, it slips out of his fingers and clatters to the floor. Dan flinches and picks it up. _I hope I didn't wake-_ "Dan?" Phil says, walking in to the kitchen. _Oops,_ Dan thought. "I'm sorry, Phil. I was trying to make waffles, but then I dropped the waffle maker, and, well..." Dan drifts off lamely. "It's alright." Phil replies. "But, um, what happened to our kitchen?" He exclaims, taking a look around. "I might've made a bit of a mess," Dan says. "Alright, I'll start cleaning while you finish the waffles." "Thanks, Phil." Dan smiles and plugs in the waffle maker. Phil and Dan finish making breakfast and cleaning the kitchen.

"Alright, here we are." Dan sets a plate of waffles on the table and they sit down to eat. "Okay, we have about 10 hours before the party starts," Phil says. "Yup, ok," Dan says absently. "Dan. Are you listening?" "Sorry, what?" Dan looks up from drowning his waffles in syrup. Phil smiles and says, "The party is in 10 hours. We have to get ready." "Ugh, okay." Dan and Phil finish eating breakfast and wash the dishes. Then they start cleaning the apartment, both getting distracted super easily. "Phil, come on," Dan says, after looking over at Phil and seeing him engrossed with the back of a movie case. "Sorry," Phil smiles sheepishly and replaces the movie on the shelf. After a long while (and a lunch break.. and a lot of other snack breaks), the apartment is clean, the decorations are set up, snacks are set out, and the clock reads 6:30pm. "Alright. I think we're done!" Phil calls, placing the last snack bowl on the living room table. "Finally," Dan sighs, coming into the room and sitting on the couch. Phil joins him and says, "So we have about a half hour before everyone gets here. What shall we do?" "I don't know. But, I've been thinking, we should post a DanAndPhilGAMES video after the... other one, just to take some of the attention away from it, you know?" Dan says. "Good idea. Let's continue a series, right? I don't feel like finding a new game," Phil suggests. "Well we can't do a Sims video, we just did one." "Here, hold on." Phil gets up and grabs his laptop, then sits back on the couch. He logs in to the DanAndPhilGAMES channel and scoots close next to Dan. Together they scroll down their uploaded videos and debate which game to keep playing. "Ooh, why don't we do a Pokémon Go video? We can show what we've been up to and look for other Pokémon," Phil says. "Hmm, ok!" Dan agrees. They discuss what new places they should go to ('road trip!' Phil exclaimed). A little later, Phil closes his computer, and just then, the doorbell rings.


	6. Chapter 6

Dan and Phil glance at each other. "Alright, I'll get it," Phil says. He stands up and walks toward the door, Dan then gets up and follows him. Phil opens the door and sees Louise. "Hey, Louise!" Phil says, brightening. Dan waves from behind him. "Hey guys!" She says. "Sooo, what's the big announcement?" She says excitedly with a glint in her eye. "We're not telling you until everyone is here," Dan says. "No, come on!" Louise whines. "Are you moving? Are you getting a dog?" She starts rambling. "Louise!" Phil protests, laughing. "Alright, fine." The doorbell rings again. Phil opens the door and PJ walks inside. "Hey everyone!" He says. They all greet him and move into the living room. More and more people start showing up and about a half hour later the party is in full swing. People are chatting in the kitchen, dancing in the lounge, hanging out in the living room. It seems like everyone is having a good time.

The doorbell rings and Phil goes to answer it. It's the pizza delivery man with dinner. Phil pays him, walks up the stairs, and calls, "Dinner's here!" Everyone comes into the kitchen, grabs pizza, and returns to the party. As the night goes on, people start to wonder about their 'special announcement' and Louise starts pestering them again. Currently Dan, Phil, Louise, Cat, PJ, Tyler (he was in town so they decided to invite him), and a bunch of other people are chatting in the living room. "C'mon, guys, tell us already!" Cat says to them. "Hold on," Dan says. "Phil, can I talk to you a sec?" "Um, yeah sure." They stand up and Dan leads Phil into his bedroom. He closes the door and turns to Phil. "We didn't talk about how we would tell them!" Dan says, annoyed at himself for not anticipating this. "Yeah.." Phil agrees, trying to think. "Ugh, we'll just figure it out later. They'll get worried if we stay in here any longer." Dan says. "Ok.." They walk back out to the living room, take their spots again on the couch, and resume conversation. A minute later Phil turns to Dan and says, "Hey, Dan, can you throw away my plate?" And he holds out the paper plate with the crust of his pizza still on it. "Yeah, sure." Dan takes the plate and stacks it on top of his empty one, but before he stands up, he pecks Phil on the lips. When Dan breaks away, he smiles and stands to throw away the garbage. Phil smiles back and returns to his conversation with Louise and PJ. Everyone just stares at them. "What?" Phil furrows his brow, confused. Then his eyes widen in realization and he snaps his head around to look at Dan, who was staring at him, eyes wide, with the same realization of what he just did crashing down on him.

"Did that just happen?" Louise asks, gaping at them. "Yeah," Cat says, in shock, from across the room. "Um.." Phil fiddles with his fingers, pleading to Dan with his eyes to help him. "Okay, guys," Dan sets the plates on the table and leans against the wall. "Um.. that was our announcement. Phil and I are going out." "Yeah," Phil nods and looks around nervously at the group of friends surrounding him, gnawing on his lip. It takes a second for the news to sink in, then Louise breaks the silence. "Oh, you guys! Congratulations!" she beams. Everyone gets over their shock and starts to congratulate them. "You know the internet's going to explode," Tyler says to Dan. "Probably," Dan laughs along with him.

Another couple hours later and the party is winding down. PJ is the last to go. "Alright, I should be heading home now," he finally sighs, then stands up to go. Phil and Dan stand up to say goodbye, and they all walk together to the door. "Hey, congrats again on finally getting together," PJ smirks at them. "Thanks," Phil smiles at the floor, embarrassed. PJ pulls them both into a tight hug. He releases them, opens the door, and says goodbye. "Bye!" Dan replies, and closes the door behind them. "Well, that went ok," he says to Phil, leaning his back on the door. "It could've gone better!" Phil says playfully. "What do you mean?" Dan asks innocently. "I mean you didn't have to impromptu kiss me in the middle of the party!" "It was an accident!" Dan defends himself, laughing. "Typical Dan," Phil rolls his eyes and laughs with Dan. Their laughter trails off and soon they are just staring at each other. Dan becomes overwhelmed with emotion, and he wraps his arms around Phil's neck and pulls him into a passionate kiss, the feeling of publicly declaring they were a couple fueling the embrace (but not too publicly - they had asked their friends not to say anything until the video was up). Phil places his hands on Dan's hips and clutches him closer, working his lips against Dan's like there's no tomorrow. The kiss mellows out, and all too soon, Dan pulls away. "Let's get some rest. Remember, we're filming the gaming video tomorrow," He says. Phil sighs. "Alright." They relax for a little bit, then brush their teeth and get ready for bed in the bathroom. "Night, Dan!" Phil calls over his shoulder before going into his bedroom. "Night, Phil," he calls back, then they both go to their bedrooms and fall into a peaceful sleep, neither anticipating what was soon to happen.

* * *

The next day, Dan and Phil have breakfast and clean up the mess leftover from the party. At around 3 in the afternoon they decide to start filming. Dan and Phil head into the gaming room, set up their camera, and Phil hits record. "Hello DanAndPhilGAMES Pikachu's!" Phil starts the video. "Really?" Dan asks Phil. "What? It's the most popular Pokemon!" Phil says. "Fair enough," Dan rolls his eyes. "Well, today we are bringing you another installment of Pokemon GO." "Yup. Let's activate our Pokemon hunting outfits!" Phil says. Dan rolls his eyes and smiles. "Wow. Alright, well, I have upgraded my outfit again!" "You have?" Phil asks him incredulously. "Yeah," Dan grins at Phil. "Ok, well, let's go!" They turn off the camera, change into their outfits, and walk outside. Then Phil and Dan take a taxi to a nearby city and look for cool places to go. Dan starts filming Phil and his phone on their video camera they use for vlogging (like a Day in The Life).

"So right now we are in [name of park]. Let's load up the app!" Phil clicks on the icon and the game starts loading. He shows them the Pokemon he has caught and explains some of the funny stories behind the names. Then Dan hands Phil the camera and he starts showing his Pokemon. They also update everyone on their level and items. Dan gets the camera back and they look for nearby Pokestops, wandering around and catching Pokemon on the way. "Ugh, not another Drowzee!" Phil complains as he starts to catch one. "I have like a million of these!" "Well, don't catch it then!" Dan says. "But I need the XP and stardust," Phil grumbles. After he catches it (wasting 4 pokeballs), he says, "I'm going to name it.. 'not another one' cause I'm sick of these things. They're everywhere!" Phil clicks on the Drowzee and starts to name it, but it doesn't fit, so it's name is now 'notanotheron'. "Alright, so we now have 'notanotheron' and 'traffichazar'!" Dan announces. Phil laughs, "Yep!". They continue walking around for a long time, catching different Pokemon, exploring new places and meeting some fans on the way. After a while, Dan and Phil find themselves on the edge of town, surrounded by parks and all is quiet. "Well, it's getting pretty dark, we should wrap this up now." Dan remarks to Phil. "Alright," he agrees. They film the outro outside and Dan turns off the camera. "'Kay, let's go," he says to Phil.

They start heading back home. Then Dan gets a notification on his phone as they're about to cross a quiet street. He glances at it and sees it's just a reminder he set and forgot to turn off from the day before, and he gets caught up in checking things on his phone. Suddenly he realizes Phil is not next to him anymore. Dan glances up and sees Phil crossing the road, looking at his phone and not paying attention. Time stops. All Dan is aware of is his own pounding heart, Phil, and the car barreling straight towards him.


	7. Chapter 7

"PHIL!" Dan screams. Phil looks up and sees the car. His eyes widen and he's paralyzed with fear. Dan runs towards him, not fully knowing what he was doing. He might've been running to push Phil out of the way, or throw himself in between Phil and the car. But he doesn't get there in time. The driver finally attempts to swerve to avoid Phil, but the back of the car rams into Phil's side. Phil is thrown down hard into the middle of the road. The car spins and skids into a closed building, shattering the window and triggering the security alarms. The driver gets flung into the windshield and falls unconscious. Dan rushes to Phil's side and shakes his shoulder. "Phil! Phil!" He cries. Phil groans and opens his eyes slightly. "Dan?" He calls weakly. There is blood seeping through his jeans and many bruises start to appear all over his body. "Oh god, oh god oh god oh god..." Dan whispers, running his hand through his hair. "Ok, h-hold on, Phil," Dan says. "Help is coming." He pulls out his phone and dials 911. "911 what's your emergency?" The dispatcher says. "Yes, hi, my.. my boyfriend has just been hit by a car," Dan says. "The car also ran into a building," He adds. "Where is the scene of the accident?" She asks. "Um.. hold on." He looks for the street sign. "Ok, it's Jackson Road in [city]," Dan says. "Ok, an ambulance is on the way. Has the victim fallen unconscious?" "No, he's awake but injured. The driver seems like he is unconscious." Their conversation continues like this for a while, Dan telling the dispatcher all the information he can. Finally, the ambulances arrive.

The paramedics load Phil onto a stretcher and put him into the ambulance. Dan is told he has to get in the passenger seat, and reluctantly, he starts to leave. But before they shut the door, Dan squeezes Phil's hand tightly. "Hold on, Phil," he whispers. As he's walking around the vehicle to the front seat, he sees another team getting the driver out of the car. The commotion has also attracted many people, doing their best to clean up the wreckage. Soon they get to a hospital. Phil is whisked off to emergency care and Dan repeats to the doctors what happened. He's ushered out into the waiting room as Phil is taken care of. Dan checks in to the hospital, and, exhausted by the traumatic events, he drifts into an uneasy sleep in a chair and waits for morning.

* * *

"Daniel Howell?" Someone says. The sound drifts into Dan's sleep, his eyes open, and he sees a doctor standing in front of him. Dan waits for his brain to get caught up with what's happening, and after a couple seconds he says, "Yes?". "You brought in Phillip Lester?" The doctor confirms. "Yes, yes, that's me, what's happening?" Dan urges. "Well, Phillip had some internal bleeding when you brought him in. We had to take him for an emergency surgery and repair the damage." "Oh my god, is he okay?" "Yes, the surgery went smoothly with no complications." Dan breathes a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank god." "Would you like to see him now?" The doctor asks. "Yes, yes, please!" He agrees energetically. Dan follows the doctor into another wing of the large hospital and enters a room.

Phil is sleeping in the bed, wearing a hospital gown with several tubes coming out of him, machines hooked up to him, and bandages wrapped around his arm. Dan brings his hand up to his mouth and starts tearing up. "Oh, my god, Phil," he whispers. "As you know, he had severe internal bleeding at first. We took him into surgery and fixed the problem, but we will need to keep him here for a couple weeks for observation. His ankle had a slight fracture, but that will also be fine in a couple weeks. Additionally, Phillip was scraped up pretty badly along his limbs, but we have cleaned the wounds and bandaged them, and he has a minor concussion," the doctor informs Dan. "Thank you," Dan says to the doctor gratefully. "I'll leave you to it," He smiles and swiftly exits the room.

Dan walks up to the side of Phil's bed and stares at him. He looked so.. small, somehow, and tired. Dan gets a chair from across the room and brings it to Phil's bedside, where he sits and continues looking at his beautiful boyfriend, lightly stroking his hair. A couple minutes later some nurses come in to check on Phil. They refill his IV and make sure everything is normal. Dan starts calling Phil's family and their friends, telling them what happened. Later, he gets up to stretch his legs. But then, Phil wakes up, disoriented. "Dan?" He calls in a scratchy voice. "Hold on, I'll call you back," Dan says to Louise on the phone. "Wha-Dan!" She says as he hangs up on her. "Yes, hi, Phil, I'm here," Dan says, kneeling next to his bed and resting his arms on it. "How are you feeling?" "I'm alright. What happened?" Phil asks. "You got hit by a drunk driver. We got you to the hospital, you had to have surgery, and you've been sleeping since," Dan explains. "Oh. Have you called my parents?" "Yes, they're on their way." Dan catches Phil up on everything and he settles back into his chair once Phil falls asleep again. He goes on his phone and opens twitter. Dan is bombarded with hundreds of tweets linking him to a news report from a major news network, asking him 'WAS THIS PHIL?!'. Dan opens the link and sees a clip of a news reporter reporting the accident:

'We now bring you reports of a serious car accident that happened on Jackson Road last night. A pedestrian was hit by a drunk driver, which then caused the car to skid into a building, causing severe damage to the building and the car. Luckily another pedestrian called 911, which allowed help to arrive. Minutes later, the car caused a small explosion and set fire to the building, fortunately after the driver was out of the car. Currently the victim and the driver are alive and recovering in the hospital.' It then cut to footage of the accident from security cameras on the street. You could clearly see someone who looked exactly like Phil getting hit, and someone who looked exactly like Dan running over, the rest of the accident continuing to unfold.

Dan exits the clip and scrolls through the tweets, all frantically asking him for an explanation. Dan walks over to Phil's bed and gently shakes him awake. "Hmm..?" Phil opens his eyes and immediately smiles when he sees Dan. "Hey, Dan. What's up?" He asks. "Phil, look at this." Dan hands him the phone and watches Phil watch the video. "Oh, my god!" He exclaims after watching the clip. "I know," Dan agrees. "Is the driver okay?" Phil asks. "Yeah, I think, " Dan replies. "Ok, good." "Now, what should we tell everyone? All our fans are begging to know what happened," Dan says. "Wait, really?" Dan shows Phil all the tweets. "Oh," Phil breathes, overwhelmed by all the people worried about him. "Just say it was me, and I'm fine," he suggests. "You are not fine! You're in the hospital! You had internal bleeding and a broken ankle!" Dan exclaims. "I've half a mind to go to the driver and-" (here Dan said some very obscene things). "Dan!" Phil exclaimed, horrified, but amused. "Honestly, I'm alright." "Hmph, okay." Dan types up a tweet and shows it to Phil:

'To all who saw the report on the crash - yes, that was Phil. He's currently recovering well in the hospital. Thanks for the concerns and hopefully we'll be home soon!'

"Yeah, thats good," Phil agrees, and Dan hits 'tweet'.

* * *

Dan stays with Phil the rest of the day. He sticks by Phil's side and only leaves to get meals (the nurses brought Phil's to him). Phil was also still very weak and rested most of the time. In the evening, Phil's parents stop in to visit him, and after they leave he stays up to talk to Dan. At the very end of the day, a nurse comes in to Phil's room. "Daniel?" She asks in surprise. "Visiting hours are over. You have to leave now." "What?" Dan says. "No, can't I stay with Phil?" "I'm sorry, but rules are rules," she says. Dan sighs. "Fine," he grumbles. "Bye, Phil." "Bye," Phil says. Dan leans down and kisses Phil before he goes. The nurse was aware of their relationship, but was shocked by their open act of affection. She had never really seen a couple like them before. Dan turns around and sees her startled face, tinged with disapproval. "What? Haven't you ever seen a couple kiss before?" He sneers. The nurse just says nothing and lets him pass before she checks on Phil.

Dan walks out of the hospital and takes a taxi home. Dan gives the driver his address and he has to get through some awkward small talk, then lapses into silence, thinking of Phil. Finally they arrive at his and Phil's apartment, Dan pays, and he exits the cab. The second Dan walks through the door, he's hit with the crushing realization of how alone he is in this apartment. Phil wasn't going to be there for weeks. Dan just trudges up the staircase and into his bedroom. He changes into pajamas and slips into his bed, however, he is unable to sleep. Thoughts of Phil consume his mind. _What if something awful happens and I'm not there? What if he wakes up, needing me, and I'm not there? What if.._ This continues for some time, Dan tossing and turning, thoughts keeping him awake. Eventually, he gets up, goes to the bathroom, and takes some sleeping pills. He feels the effects of it almost immediately, but still he finds a hard time falling asleep. Then he gets an idea. Still a bit unsure of it, he thinks ' _what have I got to lose?',_ so he goes to Phil's room. He climbs into Phil's bed, breathes in the familiar scent of Phil, and falls into a deep sleep.

* * *

In the weeks that follow, Dan gets up, has breakfast, and he usually would head over to the hospital. Some days he had to run errands and he still had to do the radio show, and Dan also had to file a lawsuit on the driver. On the days Dan was able to go the hospital, he would stay there all day, bringing work to do, talking to Phil, and catching up with the friends and family that came to visit him. That one nurse came in often, catching Dan and Phil sharing a sweet moment a couple times (one time they were even cuddling), struggling to hide her disdain. Phil was a little uncomfortable, but Dan just glared at her. Phil also went through some physical therapy and other small procedures to help him recover. There were even news articles written on the accident (' _YouTube star Phil 'AmazingPhil' Lester hit by car - best friend Dan 'danisnotonfire' Howell calls for help'_ \- "Best friend? More like boyfriend," Dan said to Phil upon seeing it). The two settle into a daily routine, and every night, a nurse comes in and tells Dan he has to leave. Every night, Dan pleads to stay. Every night, he kisses Phil goodbye. Every night, Dan heads home to the overwhelming loneliness of his and Phil's apartment. And every night, he falls asleep in Phil's bed.

* * *

Finally, after 3 weeks, Phil is discharged from the hospital in the afternoon. They share the good news on twitter and head home. The second Phil walks in the door, Dan notices how the mood of the apartment shifts. It immediately changes from loneliness and fear, to safety and comfort. This happens all the time. Whenever Phil walks in a room, he brightens it with his personality. Dan turns to Phil. "I'm so glad you're home!" He says, pulling him into a tight hug. "Woah! Me, too," Phil smiles and breathes in Dan, returning the hug. They go about their normal day, eating lunch and dinner together and playing video games, until finally it's late and they start getting ready for bed in the bathroom. "Alright, goodnight!" Dan says to Phil outside the bathroom door. "Night, Dan," he replies, pulling him in for a chaste kiss, and they go to the hallway leading to their bedrooms. Dan walks down the familiar path to Phil's bedroom and opens the door. "Dan? What are you doing?" Phil asks. "Huh? OH, um.. I don't know.. sorry," Dan says, and he quickly walks into his own room and shuts the door. _Idiot_ , he scolds himself. He gets into his own, now unfamiliar, bed that hasn't been used in a while, and falls asleep. Meanwhile, Phil walks into his room and to his bed. _That was weird_ , he thinks. Then he sees the rumpled covers that were definitely not like that before (even if it had been a while since he's been here). However, he brushes it off and gets into bed. But then he picks up a whiff of Dan in his bed. _Has Dan been sleeping in my bed?_ _Whatever, that's actually kind of sweet_. Phil smiles, glad he could comfort Dan even while he was away, and drifts into a peaceful sleep.

A/N: Hey guys! First, I'm sorry it took me a bit longer to post a new chapter, but hopefully you liked this update! It's a lot longer than normal, and that's partially why it took me so long. I don't know much about emergency procedures (especially in England - I know the phone number is different but I'm too lazy to look it up), and I know cars don't usually explode but I had to make the accident 'news-worthy'. I also don't know much about hospitals and medical stuff (but I have been watching a lot of Grey's Anatomy lately), so I hope the chapter turned out okay. I don't want to be annoying, but _p_ _lease_ review because I love to read the reviews I get and it inspires me to keep writing knowing people are reading this. Thanks.. bye! -L  
(also if you noticed the review on this story from me that just says '3' that was me testing something and I can't delete it so yeah)


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Warning - phan slash coming up! :P

* * *

Phil wakes up to Dan screaming.

It takes him a second to register what the sound is. Then he bolts up in bed, puts on his glasses, and rushes towards Dan's room. Phil bursts into the bedroom and runs over to Dan, who was tossing and turning on his bed, sobbing in his sleep. "Phil! Phil.." Dan cries out. "Dan! I'm here, I'm here," Phil says, kneeling next to him, and gently shakes Dan awake. Dan slowly opens his eyes. "Phil?" He calls out through his tears. "I'm here," Phil repeats. He climbs into Dan's bed and sits next to him. Dan rests his head on Phil's thigh and circles his arms around Phil's waist as Phil strokes his hair, trying to calm him down. After a long while, Dan has stopped crying and has closed his eyes, breathing normally with a loose grip still on Phil. Phil untangles himself from Dan and begins to scoot out of Dan's bed gingerly, but Dan's eyes shoot open and he grabs Phil's arm, panicking. "Please don't leave me," he whispers. "Shh, shh, I won't," Phil reassures him, and he shifts back in next to Dan. Phil places his glasses on the nightstand, lays down next to Dan, and nestles under the covers. He pulls Dan close and they snuggle together, falling asleep in each other's arms.

The next morning, Phil wakes up first, still in Dan's bed. He groggily opens his eyes and remembers the events of last night. Phil reaches over for his glasses, puts them on, and climbs out of Dan's bed. Then he heads into the kitchen. Phil opens up the cupboard, grabs a box of Cheerios, and pours himself a large bowl of cereal. He eats the food in silence, still trying to fully wake up. Around 10 minutes later, Dan appears in the doorway. "Hey," he greets Phil softly, not meeting his eyes. "Hi," he responds. Dan floats over to the cabinet, grabs some bread, and pops it into the toaster. Then he pours himself a glass of milk from the fridge. Phil follows every move, hypnotized by Dan's delicate movements. Once his breakfast is ready, Dan sits at the table with Phil and begins to eat.

"So, are we going to talk about last night?" Phil begins after a couple minutes of silence. "What is there to talk about?" Dan asks, transfixed by his food. "Dan, what happened? You were sobbing last night. You never cry," Phil remarks. "I.. had a nightmare," Dan says vaguely. "About what? I heard you call out my name." Dan gets up, throws the rest of his toast away, and puts his dishes in the sink. Phil follows, washes out his bowl, and puts it on top of Dan's plate in the sink. "Dan?" Phil persuades him to talk. Realizing Phil won't let this go, Dan turns toward Phil. "It was the same scene from a couple weeks ago." He starts quietly. "You walked in the road and got hit by that car. But this time.. you died." Phil nods at Dan, prompting him to continue. "I ran in the road, crying over your body, begging you to wake up." Dan's eyes started watering thinking about it. "But you wouldn't get up. You were gone." Dan's voice cracks, and a single tear slips out from his eye. Phil's heart breaks. He walks over to Dan and hugs him tightly. "Hey. It's okay," he says faintly. Dan takes a couple deep breaths, then nods and pulls away. "When I saw you, just lying there.. Phil, when that car _did_ hit you, and you were in the hospital.. I didn't know what I would do. Those weeks without you around were miserable. When you finally came home yesterday, I still couldn't really enjoy it." Dan says. "Well, no, that's not what I mean," he quickly amends. "I thought things would be back to normal around here, but last night when I had to go back to the solitude of my own bed, it stirred up the same depressing feelings from the first night." Phil raises his eyebrows at Dan. Dan realizes his mistake, then looks down at his feet and awkwardly stands there, cheeks heating up. "I mean, um.. oh, fuck it. I.. I actually slept in your bed when you weren't here. I needed your presence to comfort me." Dan looks up into Phil's eyes. "I.. I need _you_ , Phil... I can't live without you," Dan mumbles. "Oh, Dan.." Phil sighs, touched. He puts his hands on Dan's shoulders. "You won't have to. I will _never_ leave you. Okay?" Dan smiles and nods hesitantly, and Phil smiles back.

Phil leans in and gently takes Dan's lips in his. The kiss starts off sweet and mellow. Now, normally every time they kiss, Phil and Dan would pull away after a couple seconds. But this time, neither did. Dan revels in the feel of Phil's lips on his. Then the kiss starts to build. _Finally_ , after weeks of only small kisses in the hospital.. Dan wants, _needs_ more. Phil becomes aware of the desire radiating off Dan, and matches it. He places one hand gently at the base of Dan's head and one in the small of his back. Dan wraps his arms around Phil and pulls him close. Phil pushes against Dan, and he allows it, backing up into the wall. They kiss deeply, Dan desperately pressing kisses on Phil's lips, then a long, lingering kiss, again and again. They kiss as if they were they were the same person, and only sealing their lips together would make them whole again.

Dan decides this is not enough. He needs _more_. Phil feels Dan's tongue sweeping across his bottom lip, begging entrance. Phil parts his lips slightly, allowing him in. Their tongues twist together, exploring the other's mouth completely. A couple minutes later, Phil pulls away because standing for so long became uncomfortable. "Wait," he says, breathless. "Let's move somewhere else." "Where?" Dan asks. "Living room?" Phil suggests. Dan nods, takes Phil's hand, and pulls him to the living room.

They sit down on the couch and face each other. Dan and Phil gaze at each other for a few seconds. Dan smiles, leans in, and starts kissing Phil again. He kisses back, so deeply he felt as if every nerve in his body was connected to his tongue, reacting to the feel of Dan's tongue tangling with his. Dan's hand trails down Phil's back and starts playing with the hem of his shirt. The other hand follows, and Dan pulls back from Phil. He looks questioningly at Phil, who quirks one side of his mouth up, then lifts his arms while Dan pulls the shirt over Phil's head and tosses it on the floor. Phil does the same to Dan. Their eyes travel up and down the other's shirtless body, soaking in the sight of it, finally being able to see each other in a romantic light. Then their lips smash together, the feel of bare skin on bare skin sending sparks of electricity up and down their bodies. Dan breaks the kiss and starts pressing kisses along Phil's jaw, then up to his ear. He nibbles and licks Phil's earlobe gently, and Phil giggles slightly in response. Dan pulls back to smile a little at Phil, then runs his fingers through Phil's hair, and a minute later they go back to kissing each other's lips. Dan pushes back on Phil, until Phil is lying on the couch with his head on the armrest, Dan laying on top of him, one leg wrapped around Phil's waist. Its new, exciting.. and... terrifying. They have never been this intimate together. Phil and Dan want to be with each other like this, but neither knows if they're ready. However, full of longing, Dan continues kissing Phil intensely. Several wonderful minutes pass. Phil relishes in the feel of it, but... he breaks the kiss and pushes on Dan's chest gently. He sits up and Phil follows, both having their legs crossed and facing each other on the couch.

Phil rests his forehead on Dan's, gasping. "Too much... too fast," he pants. Dan nods slightly, still leaning on Phil's forehead, breathing heavily. "I'm sorry," Phil says quietly. Dan chuckles softly at Phil's cuteness. "Don't be," he says. Phil pulls away again. "You're not mad?" He says, biting his lip. "What? Phil, no. _I'm_ sorry. I didn't mean to get so caught up in the moment. It wasn't right of me to push you like that," Dan reassures him, ashamed at having his feelings get the best of him. However, his brow is still furrowed over Phil's apprehension. Phil smiles and nods. He then stands, reaches down, and grabs his shirt. He pulls it over his head, then reaches down to take Dan's shirt and hand it to him. Dan thanks him, then stands and puts the shirt on. Phil pecks Dan once more and remarks, "I better get changed," gesturing to his rumpled pajamas. "Me, too," Dan agrees. They head into the hallway, steal a glance at each other one more time, then turn into their bedrooms and get changed for the day.

A/N: Hey guys! I got the idea for this chapter a while ago and am so excited it's finally done! I really wanted to write a fluffy makeout scene, so please review and tell me if you liked it! Sorry it took me a while to publish a new chapter, I've been on vacation and pretty busy. I've also been suffering some writer's block and don't really know where I'm going with this story, so just bear with me. ~L


	9. Chapter 9

Phil emerges from his bedroom in a bright blue t-shirt with black sweatpants and socks covered in little cartoon dogs. He makes his way down the hallway and into the living room, grabbing his computer and sitting on the couch. Phil logs into his email account and starts replying to business emails. A little while later, Dan walks in. "Hey, Phil," he says, sighing as he flops onto the couch next to Phil. "Hey," Phil replies absently, finishing up an email. Dan brings his feet up onto the couch and leans lightly against Phil's shoulder as he starts playing a game on his phone. Phil taps a button on the keyboard with an air of finality. "Done!" He announces proudly. He closes the laptop and sets it on the coffee table. Then Phil wraps his arms around Dan's chest and pulls him close. They lay down together and start cuddling.

"So what do you want to do today, bear?" Phil asks Dan, playing with his hair. "Hmm, I dunno," he replies noncommittally. A couple seconds of silence pass, and then: "Oh god, I'm sorry, I just realized!" Phil exclaims, sitting up. "What?" Dan twists around to look back at Phil, a questioning expression on his face. "You just poured your heart out to me, and I just made out with you and brushed you off afterward," Phil says, mortified. "I'm so sorry," he apologizes. "Phil, it's ok." Dan reassures him, sitting up next to Phil. "You told me you'd never leave me. That's enough. I don't need a huge speech declaring your love for me." Dan rolls his eyes, but then he softens and smiles, gazing into Phil's eyes. "Ok. Thanks, Dan," Phil says, relieved. "I do love you, you know," he says softly, looking up at Dan through his eyelashes.

Dan's eyes widen as the words register in his brain. "Y-you love me?" Dan stutters. "Of course I do," Phil says. Then he sees Dan's reaction and starts to panic a bit. "Oh god, I said it too soon. We've only been dating, what, a month? Now I'm freaking you out, oh god.." Phil rambles. "Phil, Phil, calm down. You're not freaking me out," Dan says. "You're right, we've only been dating a little over a month. But we've been together for so much longer. I have known you for almost eight _years_ now. I've _loved_ you for years." "You love me?" Phil confirms, a tentative smile growing on his lips. "No, Phil. I don't just love you. I am _in_ love with you," Dan says. Phil smiles even bigger and a tear starts to brim in his eye as he gazes at his boyfriend. "God, Dan, I love you," Phil repeats. "I love you, too," Dan says back. He practically launches himself at Phil and they hug each other, so tight one would think they could never let go.

* * *

Later that day, Dan and Phil decide to finally upload their coming out video. They sit down in the gaming room and plug the hard drive with the footage on it into the computer. "Are you ready?" Dan asks Phil. He takes a deep breath. "Yeah," Phil says confidently, then starts logging into his channel. He presses a few more buttons, until everything is ready to go, successfully beginning the uploading process.

Dan and Phil sit on the couch together, looking at their phones, but every couple seconds they glance up and look at the percentage of the video that's been uploaded. 7%. 16%. 28%. "While that's uploading, do you want to upload the gaming video?" Phil suggests. "Yeah, sure," Dan says, and he leaves the room for a minute to get his laptop. Phil glances over - 45%. Dan walks back in to the room and sits on the couch with Phil. He logs in to the gaming channel and plugs the hard drive in. 87%. Then Dan start uploading the Pokemon GO video. "Alright, it's done," Dan says as he finishes getting everything set up. 100%. "The other video is ready," Phil softly remarks to Dan. They get up, sit at the desk, and check over everything. "Press the button with me?" Phil asks Dan innocently, finger hovering over the mouse. "Oh for God's sake!" Dan exclaims, but he laughs and lays his finger on top of Phil's. "Ready?" Dan asks. Phil nods and smiles. Dan presses their fingers down together onto the mouse, finally getting their coming out video onto YouTube. The gaming video is not quite ready yet, so they rewatch their new video, "BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!", and watch it gain in popularity.

The first view comes in. Then the second. Then the third. It snowballs, hundreds more views pouring in as people watch the video. After a couple minutes, Phil refreshes the page and scrolls down to the comment section. Dan and Phil take turns reading some to each other. Almost all of the comments were extremely supportive. Fans were saying how they would alway love and support them, how they knew phan was real, etc. etc. But every once in a while, a hurtful and just awful comment would pop up. One surpassingly rude, homophobic, and hateful comment is posted. Dan reads it, and he looks over to see if Phil has seen it. Phil has. "Phil, are you alright?" "No, Dan, I'm not! How can people be so hurtful?!" Phil cries, burying his face in Dan's shoulder. "Hey, Phil, it's okay," Dan says, and he lifts Phil's chin up so he's staring right in his eyes. Dan brushes a tear away from Phil's cheek and directs his attention back to the computer. "Look, here."

Dan reports the comment and removes it from the video. "Okay," Phil sniffles a bit. "But you can't do that to every comment." "Phil, we knew there was going to be some backlash from this video! Some people are just like that. But, look: 'Dan and Phil, ilysm and i'm so happy you decided to be open with us like this. keep making videos and i will support you no matter what!'" Dan reads. "There are hundreds of comments like that!" Dan says, trying to cheer Phil up. "I know, thanks," Phil says, grateful for Dan to make him feel better. "You're welcome. And whatever happens, we'll get through it! We're a team. Alright?" Phil finally smiles and agrees. "I love you, Dan," Phil says for probably the hundredth time that day, he just liked to hear the words come out of his mouth. "I love you, too, Phil," Dan says back. He smiles, turns back to the computer (their video was already on 'trending'), and closes out of YouTube and every other social media tab, not caring anymore what the world thought of them.

* * *

Later that evening, Dan and Phil are lounging on the couch in their pajamas and playing on the Nintendo Switch. After they finish up a game, Phil glances at the time. "Oh! Dan, it's past midnight!" "Hm, really? We should go to bed," he remarks. A couple minutes later, Dan and Phil are heading off to bed. But just outside his bedroom door, Dan stops and memories of the previous night come flowing back to him. Phil notices Dan's hesitation and concludes to what Dan must be thinking about. "Dan? Um, do you want to sleep with me tonight?" Phil offers gingerly. Dan blushes faintly at the innuendo and says, "Yeah, thanks," before following Phil into the bedroom. They climb into bed and snuggle together before falling into a dreamless sleep.

A/N: I hope you liked this chapter! It took me a bit longer to upload as I've been working on another phanfic, it's uploaded now if you want to check it out (titled 'a different kind of double date'). Also, for future reference, would you prefer shorter chapters uploaded more frequently or longer chapters but less frequently? Review, follow, and favorite please! ~L


	10. Chapter 10

"Hey, Phil, do you want to join my liveshow?" Dan asks. A few days had passed since the coming out video was uploaded, and the gaming video was posted shortly after that. "Sure," Phil agrees, and he sits down next to Dan on the couch. Dan presses a few more buttons on his computer and the liveshow starts. "Hi everyone!" Dan starts. "Hey guys!" Phil joins in. "As you can see, I'm here with Phil," Dan says. Phil beams and brings both hands underneath his chin to frame his face. Dan smiles at this then turns back to the computer. "Alright, just give me a minute to tell everyone I'm live," Dan mutters, and he taps more buttons to share the link on twitter and other platforms.

"Ok, so.." Dan starts, glancing at the chat, which was brimming with questions about their last video. And no, not the gaming one. That video didn't really do much to draw attention away from their announcement video. "Well, you know what everyone wants to talk about," he remarks to Phil. "What? Oh, you mean my _amazing_ new socks?" Phil brings his feet into frame, clothed with the cartoon dog socks. Dan laughs. "You're wearing those again?" He asks incredulously. Phil just nods proudly and grins a bit. "You've worn those every day since you got back from the hospital!" "So? They're good dogs, Dan," Phil says, referencing the famous saying to his memelord.

Dan laughs and glances back to the chat again. "'When did you get back from the hospital?'" Dan reads. "Uh.. three days ago?" Phil says, turning towards Dan for confirmation. "Yeah," Dan verifies, and they chat about Phil's hospital stay for a couple minutes. "Oh, someone's asked about how long I stayed there for," Phil says, drawing Dan away from his rant about the crappy cafeteria food. "Is this your way of telling me to stop ranting about the food?" Dan laughs, torn from his thoughts. "Yes," Phil answers, raising his eyebrows and grinning at Dan. Dan gazes back into Phil's eyes for a couple seconds, then remembers they're doing a liveshow. "Anyway!" Dan continues, "he was there for around three weeks," he turns back to the computer.

"Erm, yeah," Phil confirms, blushing slightly. He reads through the chat where some people were commenting on that little moment while Dan talks about how awful it must be to stay in the hospital for a long time. "I mean, I thought three weeks was bad enough and I wasn't even the one in the hospital," Dan says. "Aw," Phil says softly, turning back to Dan with a small smile. "Did you miss me?" He teases playfully. Phil knew now how hard it was for Dan to see Phil in the hospital after the little episode from a couple days ago. Dan gazes at Phil again and quirks one side of his mouth up, as if to say _'well of course I missed you'._ A few seconds pass of just Dan and Phil staring at each other and more people in the chat start commenting on Dan's sweet sentence and start asking about the video.

"Alright, well.." Dan starts, finally returning to the liveshow while taking a deep breath. "I suppose now is a good time to talk about it." "Ok," Phil concedes, still struggling with letting himself be open to the internet like this. He had managed to put it off earlier with his tangent about the socks, but now that Dan was blatantly addressing it, Phil couldn't stall any longer. "I'll assume almost all of you have seen the video," Dan says. "So, what do you want to know?" Dan and Phil spend the rest of the liveshow talking answering questions, such as when they started dating, how did they get together, etc. They also touch on the car crash a bit and other various topics before wrapping up the show.

Almost an hour into the livestream, Dan and Phil start to wrap things up. "Alright, thanks for joining us! Bye guys!" Phil says. Dan says a quick goodbye and ends the show. "There, that wasn't too bad, right?" Dan asks. "No, it wasn't," Phil agrees. "Thanks for helping me," Dan says. "Of course! Now, let's go get a snack, I'm hungry." They walk into the kitchen and have a couple cookies out of the package, chatting about a few new video ideas. Later that night, Dan and Phil change into their pajamas and head into Phil's bedroom. Dan had been sleeping there every night since he had the nightmare. By now, they both practically lived in Phil's bedroom, but Dan's stuff was still in the other room. "Night, Dan," Phil says, turning over to face his boyfriend. "Night, Phil," Dan replies, pressing a kiss to Phil's forehead before burrowing deep into the covers and falling asleep.

A/N: Hey guys! Just a short little update. I don't think this chapter was the best I could've done, but I don't really have any more ideas for this fic. I also didn't want to abandon this cause I'm pretty proud of it (being my first fanfic and all), so I think the next chapter will be the final one. Also, sorry it took a bit longer to update, I've been away from home and couldn't write. Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter, and don't forget to review/follow/favorite! ~L


	11. Chapter 11

one year later

Phil wakes up to hear shuffling noises and muffled voices coming from the guest bedroom. He groggily opens his eyes and glances at the clock - 3am. "Dan, do you hear that?" He says, turning to the other side of the bed. But it's empty. "Dan?" Phil calls. The noises stop and Phil can hear a muted "Yeah?" come from the other side of the wall. Phil gets up and heads out of their bedroom to the door leading into the spare bedroom.

"What are you doing?" "Oh, um, nothing, just couldn't sleep," Dan says. Something about Dan's voice sounded.. off, somehow. "Are you alright?" Phil asks through the door. "Yeah! Yeah, I'm fine. Just, um, don't come in," Dan states. Phil furrows his brow slightly, but takes his hand off the door handle and respects Dan's wishes. "Ok.. just come back to bed soon, alright?" "Yes, ok, thanks, be out in a minute," Dan agrees, breathing a sigh of relief.

Had Phil walked in at the moment, he would have seen Dan dressed in a blazer and slacks. He would have seen a folded-over poster of him and Dan, so only he was showing, taped on the wall. And he would have seen Dan kneeling on the floor, facing the poster, holding out a velvet box with two matching silver bands nestled inside, practicing what he was about to do the very next day.

* * *

"You ready to go, Dan?" Phil calls. "Yeah, just give me a minute," Dan says from the bathroom. "Dan, c'mon, we're going to be late!" Phil exclaims, walking into the bathroom. Dan was combing his hair for the millionth time that evening. "Alright, just hold on!" "You don't need to look perfect, Dan!" They argue. "Yes, I do! This is our one-year anniversary, I have to look nice," Dan says. "You look fine," Phil brushes him off. "Fine?!" Dan says, turning back worriedly to the mirror. Phil takes Dan's hand and pulls him away. "You look absolutely beautiful," Phil says slowly, staring straight into Dan's eyes. Dan's heart flutters and he smiles shyly. "Okay," he says, turning to throw the comb back onto the counter.

Dan and Phil walk down the stairs and into the cab waiting to take them to the restaurant. They sit together in the backseat, careful not to wrinkle their outfits. Dan was wearing the blazer and slacks from the night before, while Phil was in a simple button down shirt and tie with nice pants. They got through some awkward small talk with the cab driver and then talked to each other in low voices for the rest of the drive. Finally they got to the restaurant. It was a somewhat fancy one, with elegant decorations and a formal atmosphere.

Dan and Phil head into the restaurant and walk up to the counter. "Hello! We have a reservation under 'Dan Howell'?" Dan says to the maitre d'. "Ah, yes, right this way, sir," he responds, and leads them into the main dining hall. Dan and Phil are shown to a small booth near the edge of the room. "Thank you," Phil says politely to the maitre d' before slipping into the booth. Dan sits across from him and a waiter approaches the table.

"Good evening, sirs, and welcome," he says in a posh accent. "I am Gabriel and I will be your server tonight." "Good evening! I'm Phillip and this is Daniel," Phil introduces themselves, earning a look from Dan as he uses their full names. "Pleased to meet you. Here are your menus, and I will come back in a moment to take your drink orders," Gabriel stated, and Dan and Phil received the menus as Gabriel handed them to the pair. "What was with you using our full names?" Dan asks Phil as he opens his menu. "Everyone is so formal here I wanted to sound like them," Phil defends himself while grinning a little.

Dan and Phil scan through drink options and place their orders when the waiter comes back. "Wow, everything is so fancy here!" Phil exclaims excitedly as he looks through the rest of the menu. "Thank you, Dan. Really. You didn't have to go to all this trouble," Phil says. "Phil, c'mon. It's our anniversary! I wanted it to be special," Dan states, practicing in his mind the other reason it was going to be special, unconsciously touching the box in his pocket.

Gabriel comes back to take their meal orders, and afterward Dan and Phil wait for their food while talking to each other in easy conversation. "So what do you have planned after dinner?" Phil asks. Dan had planned basically the entire date, wanting to surprise Phil. "Well, we're going to walk through the little park down the road to the beach a couple blocks away. I thought we could walk down the shore and watch the sunset, then catch a taxi back home. I also have a movie picked out we can watch tonight," Dan explains. "That sounds perfect," Phil says.

They finish up their dinner and about an hour later are walking out the door. Phil takes Dan's hand and they wander down the quiet street together. Dan and Phil reach the park and make their way through it on the little path winding down the middle of the park. Along the way, Phil is pointing out different kinds of plants and Dan is admiring all the nature. Later, they keep walking out of the park and down the road towards the beach. Dan and Phil walk down the shore and watch the beautiful sunset over the water, with the stars and moon starting to appear in the sky, while speaking in low voices to not disturb the peaceful atmosphere. The reach a little pier and walk down to the end of it, gazing out over the lake. Dan looks around, and, seeing no one, thinks, _It's now or never_ , and he begins to start what he'd been practicing over and over while Phil slept.

"Say, Phil, do you ever think about what our lives would be like if we'd never met?" Dan asks. "Hm, no, not really," Phil responds. Dan rolls his eyes and smiles a bit. "Well, recently I've been thinking about just how different everything would be. I mean, so many things had to happen for us to get where we are. You found that videocamera and decided to make videos, and I found you online, then got enough courage to reach out to you. So I'll be forever grateful you decided to pay attention to the dorky guy on the internet," Dan says. Phil laughs at that, and Dan continues: "I mean, my life would suck without you. I would probably be a depressed lawyer living alone in a crappy apartment, while you'd be living it up somewhere as a weatherman." "Aw, Dan, I could never be happy without you. We're meant to be together," Phil says. "Okay, Phil, that was very sweet, but I'm trying to do something so just shut up and listen, yeah?" Dan suggests. Phil grins, then nods and allows Dan to continue.

"Like I said, I'm so grateful for everything you've done for me. You helped me build up my career as a youtuber, you let me move in with you, and we've gone on tour basically around the world together. I could've never done any of this without you. And I would never want to. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Phil. You.. you make me happy," Dan says. "Before I met you, I didn't have any real friends and I was at a low point in my life. You helped me figure out what I wanted to do with my existence. And I love my life now. I love you, Phil. Because you are the most amazing person I have ever met, I.. I could go on and on about everything I love about you. Now, I can't promise you a huge house or loads of money, but I can promise to make you happy. Because you make me happy, and I love you," Dan repeats. Phil's eyes start watering as he realizes exactly what Dan was doing. He wants to interrupt Dan, say he doesn't need a huge house or loads of money, that he loves Dan too. But he lets Dan finish.

"So," Dan says, gracefully sinking down on one knee like he's practiced it a million times before. He pulls the box from out of his pocket, opens it to reveal the rings, and says, "Phillip Michael Lester, will you marry me?" Phil's face splits into a huge smile and he says, "Yes, Dan! Of course I will marry you." Dan starts beaming and he stands to kiss Phil, but Phil takes Dan's face in both hands as soon as he stands up, and kisses him before Dan gets the chance. Dan snakes one arm around Phil's waist, but the other is still holding onto the box. Too soon, the kiss ends and they're left staring into each other's eyes. "Can I see the rings?" Phil asks. "Yeah, of course," Dan says, and he passes the box over to Phil. "They're beautiful," Phil muses as he runs a finger over the smooth metal of one of the rings. Dan smiles and explains, "I thought we would keep them in the box for now, and we'll wear them after the wedding. Is that all right?" "Yeah, it's fine. I mean, what do gay couples do with like, rings and stuff?" Phil questions. "I don't really know. Men don't have like, engagement rings, just the wedding bands, so I didn't really know what to do.." Dan trails off. "We'll figure it out," Phil reassures Dan, grinning as he hands the box back over.

"Can I make sure it fits?" Dan asks. "Oh, yeah, probably a good idea," Phil laughs, and he holds out his hand towards Dan. Dan grasps Phil's palm and slides one of the rings onto his finger. "Perfect fit," Phil breathes. "Yay," Dan says shakily, trying the other ring on his own finger. "Same here," Dan says. "Yay," Phil repeats Dan's response. They take off the rings and place them back in the box carefully. "Ready to go?" Dan asks as he slips the box back in his pocket. Phil glances back over the sun setting on the water. He smiles again, deep in thought, then turns back to Dan. "Yeah," he says, clasping Dan's hand in his and walking back down the pier onto the beach, sun warming their backs as they take the first step into their new life together.

A/N: Yay, it's finally done! I hope you guys enjoyed this phanfic, I loved writing it. Thank you to everyone who has read this, especially if you reviewed, followed, or favorited! And, sorry it took me a long time to update again, school has started for me so I've been quite busy. I've also been working on other fics, one is uploaded now if you want to check it out (titled 'The Liveshow', v creative, I know). Hopefully I'll have time to write on weekends or if I find free time to write during the week. Anyway, bye guys! ~L


End file.
